Penrith have capped off a week of drama with a golden-point 17-16 comeback win over the Titans at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast.
In a dramatic finish, the Panthers scored two tries in the last five minutes to claw back a 16-6 deficit. Halfback Nathan Cleary missed a conversion after the siren to send the match into golden point at 16-all.
Cleary then had a 40-metre field goal attempt hit the crossbar in the 82nd minute before nailing his second attempt from 20 metres out two minutes later.
It was an error-riddled match from both teams, but Penrith once again showed their ability to somehow scrap a win when all seemed lost.
The Titans had a dream start to the match with Ryan James charging onto the ball from close range in the third minute and showing his strength to reach out and plant the ball down, despite the attention of the Penrith defence.
The Panthers hit back in the 14th minute when a series of offloads cracked the Titans defence up the middle. Centre Waqa Blake finished the 60-metre movement by scoring in the corner.
Penrith were reduced to 12 men in the 33rd minute when interchange forward Jack Hetherington was sent to the sin bin after being penalised for a high shot on Titans’ fullback AJ Brimson.
The scores were locked at 6-all at half-time.
Hetherington gave away another penalty as soon as he returned to the field early in the second half and the Titans scored in the next set to take the lead. Ash Taylor spun the ball wide and winger Phillip Sami crossed untouched in the corner in the 44th minute.
Fifteen minutes later, Titans’ winger Anthony Don latched onto an intercept when Penrith were on the attack and raced 90 metres to score.
The Panthers gave their fans some hope with five minutes to go when centre Dean Whare fended off Kane Elgey and made a break. He drew Brimson before putting Cleary over near the posts.
In the 79th minute, rampaging backrower Viliame Kikau busted the Titans’ defence again before putting winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak over to level the scores.
The win keeps the Panthers’ top four hopes very much alive, but caretaker coach Cameron Ciraldo will be disappointed with the Panthers’ discipline and sloppy handling in his first match in charge.
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